The Chance of A Lifetime
by amandacullen09
Summary: Takes place during the production of Eclipse. 19 yr old Amanda Sheppard is cast to play Leah Clearwater and is quickly swept into the Twilight world. What happens when she falls in love with one of her cast members? M for language and future Lemons


**Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Stephenie Meyer or Summit Entertainment**

**This is my first fanfic, I think this falls under the Twilight category...I didn't really know where else to put it. R&R so I know if I should continue or not.**

I sat in the chair fidgeting with my fingernails, the one nervous habit I had picked up over the years. I could only imagine what I looked like; eyes on the floor, legs bobbing up and down in anticipation, digging at my own nails. I probably looked insane; and for good reason. I decided to give my nervous nails a break and began flipping through the paper I already had memorized. I glanced at the top of the memo _January 5: Leah Clearwater…_attached to the side was a sticky note with my number on it, _2451. _Great. I was the lucky girl who got to be this number. My stomach turned as I thought about all of the previous girls who went before me…all 2450 of them.

I didn't even know what I was doing here…._auditioning._ I'm not an actress; I'm a UCLA English major. I don't memorize lines, I write them. _Idiot_ was the only word that was running through my head. I had no chances of getting this part; I've never even acted before, not seriously at least. I took one last glance at the paper and saw that dreadful number, the number that marked me as just that…a number. The last look made up my mind, I was leaving. I stood from my chair and heard my shoes moving over the linoleum. _At least this humiliation is almost over. _I thought to myself.

I was almost out the door when I heard a woman's voice from behind me "Okay…let's see here….number 2451…..Amanda…." she paused as the flipped to another paper "…Sheppard." I almost fell on the floor as my feet came to a complete stop. I forgot to keep counting the numbers; I didn't realize it was so close to my audition. I stood there for a second contemplating making a run for it; almost unwillingly I turned around and headed towards the red headed lady with the clipboard. What was I doing? Wasn't I just leaving, and trying to forget this terrible experience? Now I was welcoming it. I stopped in front of the woman and showed her my number. _Run Amanda run…don't do this. _

The woman looked at me as though she had something inappropriate to say….hopefully she didn't resister that I was in the middle of leaving only a few seconds ago."Okay follow me." She turned around and led me into the room she had just emerged from.

I entered the room and was faced by four people composing a panel behind a mahogany table. I glanced slightly and noticed there were three men and a woman eying me down. The room was off-white, and huge. I made my way into the middle where I was still a good distance away from my panel's judging eyes. The nerves hadn't quite hit me yet and I was thankful, all of my emotions were being overridden by my own anger at myself for not running while I had the chance. Now I had to do this. The man farthest to the left was the first to speak

"Well you certainly _look _like Leah Clearwater." I didn't know what to say…of course I thought I looked like her, why else would I have came to this stupid audition; it was my _only _motivating factor. My skin was a couple shades darker than usual; I figured the more time I spent in the sun; the more chance I had to be believable. I decided to leave my lip ring out this morning and left just enough wave to dark brown hair; I knew the more convincing I looked, the more confident I would feel.

"Um…thanks I guess." I looked straight ahead trying to focus on something else besides the four people staring at me. I had almost found the perfect spot to stare at on the wall when I noticed exactly who the woman was sitting at the table; Stephanie Meyer. She looked at me and smiled before saying "You do look a lot like the character I had envisioned." Now I really didn't know what to do, I was almost flattered…almost; I still couldn't really muster any emotion besides anger.

_Anger_ I thought. Well maybe that would help me out, Leah is a very angry girl sometimes. The man then picked up the script and began reading his part. I continued with my very best Leah impression.

The audition flowed smoothly, almost too smoothly. I knew all my lines; when my face should fall, when to light up, when to drag out certain sentences to emphasize the pain in my words. I didn't know how my panel felt about my performance…but I certainly impressed myself. The man to the left sat back in his chair as I finished my last sentence and looked at me. "Well…Amanda, thank you for your time. Our agents will contact you within the next couple days to let you know."

The red headed woman then came and guided me back into the waiting room. She verified my information and told me how I to find the exit to the building. Once outside I felt all of my withdrawn emotions crash down on me. Maybe I didn't do as well as I thought. They were very short with me. _They had to be…there's hundreds of people left to audition. _I tried to reason with myself and get my nerves back under control. At least I did it; I put myself out there and did my best. I felt proud of myself; doing this was so out of character for me, it was different…and I liked it. I felt strangely calm as I open the door to my car and drove my way back down Santa Monica.

********

Four days had passed since the audition; and I felt like a new person. Putting myself in that position and making myself as vulnerable as I was to prying eyes had given myself a new outlook on life. I felt like my confidence was radiating out of me, not enough to be smug, but just enough to where I felt like I could take on the world.

I no longer cared if I got the part or not, just knowing that I was capable of doing something like that was life changing, I no longer wanted to be the shy girl in the back of the class, I wanted to be in front of the class; the center of attention.

My attention was diverted from my own cocky fantasies when I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. I looked down to check my phone. _Unknown number_…not very many people had my number. "Hello?" I spoke into the receiver and continued my way to my literature class. The voice on the other end was unfamiliar "Is this Amanda Sheppard?" _oh great another telemarketer…_I thought to myself. I was going to make this quick. "Yes this is her, who is this?" the voice spent no time hesitating in their answer "This is Mark from Summit productions; I was calling to schedule a call back for the part you auditioned for." I almost dropped the phone, I had lean into the wall beside me just to keep my balance. "Oh….ok…umm…when do you need me?" my voice was shaky and less cocky then what it was a minute ago. "We were thinking tomorrow afternoon around 2…" I leaned the rest of my body onto the wall for support; I didn't think it would be _that_ soon.

The man on the phone continued "… We know its a little short notice but were trying to get to role filled as soon as possible so we can do the run through and get moving into production." I breathed. "Oh no, I understand, I'll be there tomorrow." I was beginning to recover my balance and leaned slightly off the wall.

"Ok Amanda we'll see you tomorrow" then the phone went dead on the other end. I stood still in the middle of the hallway as the other students continued to move pass me. The conversation had only lasted a couple of minutes, and I felt like my heart didn't beat the whole way through. I didn't know what to do, going to class was certainly not an option; I couldn't sit through class when all I wanted to do was scream at the top of my lungs.

_Calm down Amanda….you don't have the part yet…just a call back._ The more logical part of my brain resurfaced bringing me down from my high; and it was right. I hadn't got the part yet….._but I will._

******

I woke up around 10 in the morning with an instant smile on my face. Today was going to be the day that changed my life, I knew it. I gathered my thoughts and made my way into the kitchen, deciding to stay in my pj's a little while longer. When I entered the kitchen I was greeted with one of the biggest smiles I had ever seen; if there was anyone who was more excited about my call back than me, it was my roommate Kayla.

"Good morning movie star!" her smile filled her voice. "You better make breakfast quick; we only have so much time to get you prepared for stardom." I rolled my eyes at her as I continued my way to the pantry. "You know, I don't think I really need to do _that_much, I was pretty basic when I went in the other day." I commented; trying to wiggle my way out of a morning filled in the bathroom. "Besides, I don't think Leah Clearwater is the make-up type." I grabbed a box of cereal and moved to the counter. She considered my words. "Hmm….you got a point." I sat down beside Kayla at the table with my bowl of cereal in my hand. Kayla didn't let the silence last long. "You know…if you do get this part…I expect a very nice birthday present this year." I rolled my eyes again. Leave it up to Kayla to be the first one to point out the money aspect, I hadn't even thought of it.

"Yeah okay…." I answered, sarcasm dripping off my voice. She laughed and continued the conversation. "Okay seriously….do you know what this will mean?" I knew exactly what she meant; I had been waiting for something like this to happen to me my whole life. The only difference was that I thought it was going to be handed to be on a silver platter, I never thought I would have the nerve to seek it out.

"Yeah, I know." I smiled, trying to contain my excitement. "It will be fucking amazing!" I couldn't control my enthusiasm any longer, at that moment we both busted into a fit; somewhere along the lines of screaming and giggling beyond belief. It took a couple of minutes for us to calm back down. I didn't know what I would do without this girl, she was my rock. Kayla tried catching her breathe as I finished what was left of my cereal. "Don't forget about me though." a mixture of joy and sadness filled her words. What was she thinking…forget about her? "Oh come on Kay, you're my best friend. Besides I don't know if you've realized this or not. But I don't have the part yet." emphasizing my last words.

We found my way to my closet, Kayla deciding that if she couldn't make me over, she was going to at least dress me. That task proved easier said than done; since receiving my call yesterday I hadn't exactly gotten around to washing clothes and my wardrobe was seriously impaired.

"Amanda if you do get this part and don't spend some of the money on buying you a new wardrobe I might have to disown you as a friend…your lack of fashion is embarrassing to be around."

"I know…it is kind of pathetic isn't it." I couldn't help but agree with her when she made a very good point. I went to sit on my bed as she continued to fumble around in my closet. She finally emerged a couple minutes later.

"Ah Ha! I found something." She quickly turned around and was holding a navy plaid blouse, my darkest skinny jeans and a pair of my slightly higher heels. "This color will make you look even tanner." She commented.

"Oh how would I have ever found _that _on my own? You saved my life." I lied, my mocking tone more playful then mean. I grabbed the clothes from her and slipped them on while she went to my mirror to examine my cosmetics. I went and stood by her side, looking at myself in the mirror.

I sighed and breathed in deeply, letting some of the nervous emotion flow out of me. Kayla looked over, apparently noticing I was becoming overwhelmed. She wrapped her left arm around my shoulders "You're going to do fine" her words trying to clam some of my uneasiness "I mean…no since to get nervous now, you've already made it this far."I closed my eyes and tried to let her reassurance wash over me. _She's right._ I thought to myself. I took another deep breathe to steady myself, and began to apply a small amount of make-up to my eyes.

**It starts off a little slow but I'm going to try to pick up the pace later...I don't really like it when a story is rushed too much though.**


End file.
